Massapequa tops Monroe-Woodbury in state Class AAA baseball semifinal, plays Liverpool for championship
Massapequa’s Brady Love top, watches as Michael Monda of Monroe-Woodbury is out at second on a double play to end the first inning at Union-Endicott High School during their Class AAA NYSPHSAA semifinal baseball game on June 12, 2026. Credit: Simon Wheeler
ENDICOTT — The 2025 Massapequa baseball team is officially redeemed, because the 2026 version has a date with destiny.
Massapequa defeated Section IX's Monroe-Woodbury, 5-3, in the state Class AAA semifinals at Union-Endicott High School on Friday night. Massapequa (24-3-1) will face Section III’s Liverpool for the championship game at Binghamton University on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The victory helped wash away a bitter taste that has lingered for all of Massapequa’s returning players after their team was eliminated in the state semifinals by Roy C. Ketcham last year on June 13. They will be spending this June 13 trying to bring home the school's first state title since 2018 and first ever in Class AAA.
“It’s surreal,” righthander James Alonso said. “It does stink that some guys from last year couldn’t be here, but I did it for them, too. I just want to win a state championship for the program as a whole, and especially for these guys.”
Massapequa scored three runs off Monroe-Woodbury righthander Braeden Burke in the top of the first inning. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Brady Love trotted home from third base on a wild pitch. Two pitches later, Chris Sultana crushed an RBI double off the rightfield fence to drive in AJ Conza. After a hard lineout to center by Caiden Erker, Joe Genova blasted an RBI double off the rightfield wall to make it 3-0.
Sultana finished 3-for-3 with a double, an intentional walk, an RBI and two runs scored.
“I was looking to hit a fastball, something I can crush, and definitely scare their infield and outfield,” Sultana said. “We had a mentality to come in here and get in their head, and that’s exactly what happened. I feel like all 28 guys here did our job today.”
Righthander Jack Mulligan rode the momentum of that strong top of the first inning and held the Crusaders (19-4) scoreless through the first three. He earned the win, allowing two runs (one earned), three hits and three walks with four strikeouts in four innings.
Burke settled down after the first inning, holding Massapequa to two hits in the next four frames. Meanwhile, Jeremy Lai led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run and Liam Hayes scored on a throwing error to cut Monroe-Woodbury’s deficit to 3-2.
The Crusaders made a bid for more in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs for cleanup hitter Evan Erickson. However, righthander Jack Corrigan attacked him with fastballs and got him to pop out in foul territory to Genova.
“I’ve been in spots like that all season, so I was just trying to keep myself calm, knowing it was my moment, and that’s the kind of energy that I thrive off of,” Corrigan said. “Knowing that I have good stuff and put-away stuff, I just had to trust myself to do what I’ve been doing my whole life. Even if he put it in play, I’ve got fielders behind me who are some of the best guys I’ve ever played with, so I know the play’s going to be made. It definitely shifted the momentum back.”
Right after that, singles by Sultana and Erker set up Genova, who sliced an RBI single through the left side to make it 4-2. He ended the night 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Erker later scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Moore to make it 5-2.
Alonso relieved Corrigan with two on and two out in the sixth and went on to lock down the four-out save, punching Massapequa’s ticket to the final. He allowed an unearned run on Erickson's RBI single to cut it to 5-3.
The game ended with Erker catching a fly ball in centerfield and throwing out Lai at third base for the double play.
“I wasn’t feeling any pressure,” Alonso said. “I knew if I let the ball get out there, my guys would make the play. As you see, Caiden Erker makes the perfect throw to win the game for us. Having a guy like that, or any guy out there, is awesome.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
